Accession Number
2002/1.157

Title
St. Felix of Valois

Artist(s)
Gaspar Miguel de Berrío

Object Creation Date
circa 1735

Medium & Support
oil on panel

Dimensions
18 ¾ in x 18 in (47.63 cm x 45.72 cm);18 ¾ in x 18 in x 2 ½ in (47.63 cm x 45.72 cm x 6.35 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Charles and Marjorie Arnade in memory of Professor Irving A. Leonard

Label copy
There was a tradition colonial workshops of training artists by having them work from books of prints that were sent to the New World. The very precise black hatching lines would correspond to the cross hatching found in late 17th c. and 18th c. engravings. [This information was provided by Carol O'Brien English]

Subject matter
St. Felix of Valois, cofounder of the Trinitarian Order in 1198, stands in religious ecstasy near the center of this painting surrounded by a riot of exuberant decoration. He is identified in the Latin inscription in the cartouche below him, an identification confirmed by the presence of the stag with a cross between its horns, which recalls a famous episode in St. Felix's life.

Physical Description
A bearded man with a halo and wearing ecclesiastical vestments appears rapt in ecstasy in the upper third of this painting. He stands on a cloud beneath an elaborate baldachin with his eyes turned upward. A stag with a cross between its antlers lies at his feet on the figure's right while a putto sits at his left. Two more putti hover to the left and right of the man, holding a red curtain behind him. This scene is surrounded on three sides by dense painted decoration composed primarily of vegetal motifs, which is complemented by the exuberant scrolling foliage and fish scale patterns of the gilded frame. A cartouche bearing a Latin inscription identifying the standing figure is located near the bottom of the painted surface.

Primary Object Classification
Painting

Primary Object Type
panel painting

Additional Object Classification(s)
Ritual Object

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
Christianity
putti (motifs)
scale pattern
scrolling foliage